Rated: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images.

Runtime: 2 hours, 13 minutes.

Stars (of four): 3.5.

For years, actor Andy Serkis has earned praise for his motion-capture-performance work, being a key part of bringing to life characters including Gollum, King Kong and, to a lesser degree (at least so far), Supreme Leader Snoke.

His most emotionally rich performances, however, have been as Caesar, the central ape figure in 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and its first sequel, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” in 2014. He — with the help of talent digital-effects artists — have made Caesar as fully realized as a human character.

Quite impressively, Serkis and the effects crew have saved their finest work for the trilogy-closing “War for the Planet of the Apes,” a highly compelling, completely engrossing work of science-fiction.

Digital characters have been with us for some time, but never have they looked as good as the apes — Caesar especially — in “War.” So rich in detail, so believable, Caesar and his compatriots are easy to invest in, even as they battle a dwindling human population.

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At the onset of war — directed, as was “Dawn,” by the increasingly masterful Matt Reeves — the Simian Flu continues to wreak havoc on humanity. While the super-intelligent apes — the result of an experiment that occurred in “Rise” — are not affected by it, they are hunted by some of the remaining humans.

The well-crafted opening sequence has a group of human soldiers, with an ape in tow, in the woods sneaking up on a few apes on horseback. The humans’ ambush ultimately fails, though, as they are overrun by Caesar’s forces.

“You’re him — you’re Caesar,” one of the human captives says to the ape leader. “We’ve been searching for you for so long.”

Caesar lets him go, with a message to take back to his leader, known only as “The Colonel”: Leave the woods to the apes, and there will be peace.

Were it only that easy.

The Colonel, played captivatingly and, at times, menacingly by Woody Harrelson (“The Hunger Games” movies”), is interested in no such deal. In fact, he soon leads an attack on the apes’ home, an attack that takes a heavy toll on Caesar and gives the ape, most justifiably, a thirst for vengeance.

While many of the apes venture off on a journey to what they hope will be a safer home, Caesar, trusted adviser Maurice (Karin Konoval) and right-hand man Rocket (Terry Notary) head for The Colonel’s base, where more than one traitorous ape now resides.

Along the way, they encounter a young human girl (Amiah Miller) who cannot speak — she is not the only person inflicted with this mysterious condition — and Bad Ape, a lonely chimp who once resided in a zoo.

The story hits its stride when Caesar encounters The Colonel, the two alpha males testing each other, and “The War for the Planet of the Apes” giving us some of its best moments. (A scene in which The Colonel holds a pistol to the head of Caesar to make the other apes to bend to his wishes is as tense as anything on screen in a while.)

While Reeves and his “War” co-writers are concerned with peppering in homages to the 1960s and ‘70 “Planet of the Apes” films, as well as to various war movies — “The Great Escape” and “Apocalypse Now” would seem to be two — they never lose focus from telling a good story.

Throughout the proceedings, Caesar is haunted in his dreams by the spectre of Koba (Toby Kebbell), the ape largely responsible for the war with the humans. These visions cause Caesar to question whether he is doing right by his species.

At the same time, there is an ape, interested only in his own survival, who in fact has turned his back on his kind. The powerfully strong ape, Rex, is referred to as “donkey” by his human bosses, but he nonetheless is willing to go as far as whipping Caesar in front of other apes in the name of his own preservation.

Ultimately, it’s tough to decide with whom to be more impressed, Serkis or Reeves. While the former will be seen at year’s end reprising the aforementioned role of Snoke in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” the latter has a bigger upcoming job — he’s set to direct Ben Affleck in “The Batman.” While that film won’t see release for sometime after 2018, expectations already are high. And they should be, given what Reeves, who first got attention as the director of 2008’s “Cloverfield,” has shown.

In “War for the Planet of the Apes,” he shows us a whole lot.

‘War for the Planet of the Apes’

In theaters: July 14.

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images.